French Football

Like most European countries, the most popular sport in France is football. Though football is widely regarded as starting in Le Havre, France in 1872 there were actually games being played as early as 1863. The game was introduced by Englishmen as is the case in most countries around the world.

French Football is governed by The Federation Francaise de Football who deal with both professional and amateur organisations. The top two leagues in France are Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 who are run by the Ligue de Football Professionnel or LFP, they also run the countries league cup.

Ligue 1 is the top tier of French football and is currently ranked below the EPL, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga in Europe.  Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 both have 20 teams competing with promotion to Ligue 1 and fighting against relegation.

Below Ligue 2 is the Championnat National which is the third tier of club football in France which is above the Championnat de France Amatuer and  Championnat de France Amatuer 2.

French Cup Football

There are a number of cup competitions in French football with the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue being the two most important.

The Coupe de France is the major cup competition in France and is open to all professional and amateur teams whereas the the Coupe de la Ligue is only open to professional members of the LFP.

The Trophee des Champions is the French equivalent of the Charity Shield in England and is played by the winners of Ligue 1 and the coupe de France.

There are a number of regional cup tournaments which pit local sides against one another and there are also many youth cups.

International Football

France were present at the first ever World Cup tournament in 1930 and finally won the trophy on home soil in 1998 when they defeated Brazil 3-0 in the final. France have also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Olympic Tournament as well as the UEFA European Championships on two occasions in 1984 and 2000. At the time of writing France are in the FIFA top 10 international club rankings and are widely regarded as having one of the strongest international teams in Europe.

French TV Rights

Watching French football live on TV is something that many people across the world with a love for the game enjoy so TV rights are a major revenue source for them.

The current deal which was negotiated in 2014 and runs from 2016 until 2020 was worth around 726million Euros a season for Ligue 1 and 22million Euros a season for Ligue 2. With Monaco and Paris St Germain making steady progress in the Champions League in recent years, French football is enjoying a resurgence in popularity which can be seen reflected in the vast sums of money paid for the TV Rights.

If you are looking to find out where and when you can watch live Ligue 1 French football matches on TV we will keep you updated.

Big Money Buys

As of the end of season 2016/17 France can boast the most expensive football player in history as well as the most expensive teenager in football history.

The interesting thing is that it was Manchester United who shelled out for both with Paul Pogba returning to United for the world record fee of £89.3m after leaving on a free transfer to Juventus a few seasons before.

Manchester United also paid £36million to Monaco to make Anthony Martial the most expensive teenage signing of all time.

With both players still under 25 and a number of other exciting youngsters breaking out of French football it could be an interesting period for the French National team with the latest name making waves in European football being 18 year old Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe. His head turning performances in the Champions League have made him one of the hottest properties in European and French Football.